The year 1884 was a significant one in Shenandoah and in America, as it marks the founding of the first Eastern Rite Catholic church in the country.

The borough's St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. The observance will culminate at 2 p.m. Nov. 8 with the celebration of a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy by Metropolitan-Archbishop Stefan Soroka, archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and metropolitan for all Ukrainian Catholics in the United States.

A reception will follow the liturgy at St. Nicholas Hall, Primrose.

"As the first Christians gathered together as a witness to Christ's love, we gather as witnesses to both Christ's love and the building and endurance of a community," said the Rev. Oleksandr Dumenko, pastor, at a recent kickoff luncheon in the parish hall. "This community is noted for its ability to come together and provide support."

When Eastern Rite Catholics came to the United States in the 1800s, it was not an easy road for them. In addition to language barriers, the people worshipped differently from the Western (Roman) Rite Catholics who already were in America.

Called "Uniates" in a derogatory sense by Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians, they were not readily accepted.

According to the 1917 edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia and the Ukrainian archeparchy Web site, the increase of Eastern Rite Catholics in the United States led to the founding of a church in their liturgical tradition.

At the time, Catholics of the Byzantine ritual tradition in the Austro-Hungarian Empire were known in church terminology as "Ruthenians." Large numbers of them began to immigrate to the United States in the late 1870s.

The encyclopedia entry says the Ruthenian settlement in Shenandoah "had so increased that towards the end of 1884 they sent a petition to Archbishop (afterwards Cardinal) Sylvester Sembratovitch, Metropolitan of Lemberg, praying that a Greek Catholic priest might be sent to them to found a parish of the Greek Rite at that place. The petitioners promised to build a church for him if he were sent."

In 1885, the Rev. Ivan Volanski, of the Diocese of Lemberg (actually Lviv, Ukraine), arrived in the United States - the first Greek Catholic priest in America. The encyclopedia says Volanski presented himself in Philadelphia, but since he was married, his efforts to be recognized as a Catholic priest were difficult.

"However, he proceeded to Shenandoah, where under great difficulties and discouragements, he organized his congregation and for about a year celebrated Mass and other services in a hired hall, for he was unable to obtain the use of the local Latin churches for Greek services," the encyclopedia says. "The matter of his regularity and his acceptance as a priest in Pennsylvania for the Ruthenians was finally arranged through Cardinal Sembratovitch."

In early 1886, Volanski completed "a little frame church dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, the first Greek Catholic church in America," the encyclopedia says. "He then organized there the first Greek Catholic Society, that of St. Nicholas, built and organized a small parochial school, and then proceeded to form congregations and to found churches in other places where the Ruthenians were thickly settled."

Those places included Hazleton (1887), Kingston (1888) and Olyphant (1888), as well as Jersey City, N.J., and Minneapolis, both in 1889.

In late 1886, Volanski began publication, in "phonetic" Ruthenian, of a small paper issued every two weeks at Shenandoah under the name America. The newspaper survived until about 1890, when it got involved in labor trouble in the coal region "which destroyed much of its usefulness," The Catholic Encyclopedia says.

Dumenko, speaking to local civic and business leaders, said St. Michael's "is a testament to the time and effort that our forefathers put into building a community. The spiritual integrity of our parish depends on the remaining members whose mothers and fathers have passed on."

jusalis@republicanherald.com

Faith, he said, "was an important aspect of all of our ancestors' lives. This is evident through the many church domes and steeples that we see present in the town of Shenandoah and our neighboring communities.

"Fortunately for us, this aspect of faith still lives on through us, the inheritors of such rich traditions. ... The fact that the town of Shenandoah is home to the first Ukrainian Catholic church in the entire United States of America is indeed an honor."

The Very Rev. Archpriest John M. Fields, dean of the South Anthracite Protopresbytery of the Ukrainian archeparchy, said the anniversary of St. Michael's is historically important.

"Anniversaries are a type of celebration, and for Shenandoah this November on the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, it will be a time of great celebration," said Fields, who is pastor of St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church in Frackville and St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Maizeville.

"This was the first Eastern Catholic parish founded in the United States. Our Byzantine Catholic brothers also look as this being the first Eastern Catholic church, so much so that Bishop (Michael) Dudick, who was from Saint Clair, of the (Ruthenian) Byzantine diocese, would tell of how his parents would come from Saint Clair to Shenandoah to come to church here."

Fields spoke of the tragedy on Easter Monday of 1980 when the second parish church was destroyed by fire. The original church still stands on West Centre Street. The current church at Oak and Chestnut streets was built in 1983.

"It was on that Easter Monday that people woke up and saw the golden domes of St. Michael's ablaze and tumbling down in balls of fire," said Fields. "People came and cried, but just as the phoenix rises from the ashes, people banded together and built this beautiful church. ...

"Shenandoah itself has become a tapestry of nations, and St. Michael's provides some of the threads that are woven into that tapestry."

jusalis@republicanherald.com

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3 posted comments

Glory to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ for this 125th year of St. Michael the Archangel, first Greek Catholic Church for Eastern European Slavs in USA. God grant many happy years!

Best wishes and congratulations to my Eastern Rite brothers and sisters in The Faith! God Bless you all! Thank you for coming to America and sharing your beautiful traditions with us! I love Bysantine worship! It is Divine!!!!! I hope to see you all during the celebrations.

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